Fix it yourself

Clinics defy the throwaway economy

MINNEAPOLIS — The table lamp, with its fizzling lightbulbs, was built like a tank and was about as attractive. Its base was so heavy that not even the cats could knock it over — and therein lay its beauty.

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By Kim Ode

DailyTidings.com

By Kim Ode

Posted Jan. 28, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Kim Ode

Posted Jan. 28, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

MINNEAPOLIS — The table lamp, with its fizzling lightbulbs, was built like a tank and was about as attractive. Its base was so heavy that not even the cats could knock it over — and therein lay its beauty.

Reason enough for Molly Ross of Edina, Minn., to set it before a group of people who know how to fix fizzling lamps and recalcitrant toasters and unpredictable boomboxes.

They're the volunteers for a Fix-It Clinic, an effort begun last year by Hennepin County, Minn. Clinics have a three-pronged approach: One, a repaired gadget is one less gadget tossed in the trash. Two, you can learn to do your own troubleshooting and repair work. Three, you get to meet some really smart and generous people, and that's not a wasted Saturday, even if your toaster never works again.

The effort is itself part of an international movement that began about four years ago in the Netherlands. A similar group called the Fixers Collective started in the New York borough of Brooklyn.

Here's how they work: Bring in small appliances, electronics, mobile devices, even clothing that needs mending. Volunteers guide you through the repair process, helping you figure out where the problem may lie and the possible solutions.

"I already do this all the time," said Jimmy Lynch, a volunteer who also is a member of Twin Cities Maker, a community group that, in a nutshell, makes stuff and shares skills. "I like the idea of self-reliance," he said, adding that his dad taught him most of what he knows. "Every weekend, we'd be dumpster-diving or going to garage sales to find stuff to fix."

Then, to the sockets, which stymied them at first. Finally, they reached the innards. "Looks like someone did a good job of splicing at one time," Dingels said. They tested the charge with a meter, then rewound the wiring, resembling surgeons bent over a patient. Dingels placed a probe on one socket, unexpectedly sending a small arcs of sparks across the table.

"Science!" Lynch declared, before he and Dingels agreed to better communicate when the lamp was plugged in. Within a few minutes, they'd achieved success.

Around the room, other resuscitation projects were under way. Anita Urvina-Davis gave Kelly Wilder a lesson in mending a rip in a pair of sturdy Carhartt jeans. It's a skill she'd learned years ago when her father brought home an old sewing machine from the Salvation Army — evidence that parents modeling good behavior actually works.

Not everything proved salvageable. A toaster with a disobedient lever was eventually decreed, well, toast. The same fate loomed for a boombox that Daniel Runion of Minneapolis brought, complaining that its volume would inexplicably fade.

Tyler Cooper set about removing 17 screws, which led to the first rule of home repair: Keep track of the tiny stuff.

Cooper figured the problem was in the switch, but doubted that a replacement was available, given the boombox's age. (Once, when the volume came up, the room filled with the Doobie Brothers' "China Grove." "Does that only play tunes from the '70s?" someone cracked. Runion just nodded.)

Cooper considered soldering the switch in place, but kept worrying over the contacts board until finally surmising that the sound vibrations eventually were causing the switch to shift. At this point, it was clear that some repair tips are beyond the realm of being casually passed from expert to owner. Cooper made a fine-tuned fix, then set about complexity of reassembly.